Annotation:Joke on the Puppy (The)

Back to Joke on the Puppy (The)

---

JOKE ON THE PUPPY, THE. AKA and see "Rye Straw (1)," "Unfortunate Pup (The)." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; western N.C., eastern Tennessee, north Georgia, Mississippi. A Major. ADae tuning (fiddle). AA'ABCDEFEFCF (Stephen Tucker). The tune is usually known as "Rye Straw," but has several titles. Structurally various versions contain anywhere from two to four distinct parts. Barry Poss (1976) says the tune is not unusual in the Galax, Va., style repertoire.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources:

Recorded sources: Columbia 15521 (78 RPM), Clayton McMichen (1929). County 756, Tommy Jarrell - "Sail Away Ladies" (1976). Mississippi Department of Archives and History Ah-002, Stephen B. Tucker - "Great Big Yam Potatoes: Anglo-American Fiddle Music from Mississippi" (1985). Mountain Records 310, Tommy Jarrell - "The Joke on the Puppy" (1976. Learned around 1915 from his fiddling father, Ben Jarrell, and banjo player Charlie Lowe; they had the tune from Pet McKinney. "I play it exactly like my Daddy and Charlie did it," says Jarrell, "I don't know whether everybody plays that little extra part on the second time you go up to the high part, but Daddy always put that to it and Charlie did too on the banjo"). Rounder 1005, Clayton McMichen. Vocalion 148433 (78 RPM), Uncle Am Stuart (1853–1926, recorded in 1924 as "Rye Straw").

---